BRIEFLY

The FCC's chief said long-distance rates will drop.

Long-distance rates can be expected to drop 5% in June and perhaps an additional 17% by the end of this decade, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Mark S. Fowler said during a meeting with reporters. Fowler pointed to the anticipated drop as a "benefit" of the massive and complex changes in the telephone industry. Long-distance telephone rates have already fallen 12% in the past 18 months.